Deadly suicide bombing at Shiite mosque in Herat, Afghanistan

Thousands of Shiite protesters chanted slogans against the Islamic State group Wednesday as they carried the coffins of victims of a mosque attack that killed 33 people in the western Afghan city of Herat.

Up to 5,000 angry mourners, including relatives of the dead, congregated near the site of Tuesday’s suicide bomb attack as IS claimed responsiblity for the latest atrocity targeting the minority community.

“Death to Daesh (IS)!” and “Down with fundamentalism”, the demonstrators chanted, as the coffins were brought one by one and placed in a refrigerated lorry near the Jawadya mosque.

The mourners, who then marched to the cemetery to bury their dead, also demanded that the government bring the perpetrators to justice and pledged to “take revenge” if it did not.

Jilani Farhad, a spokesman for the governor of Herat province, said the death toll from the attack, in which two suicide bombers throwing grenades stormed the packed mosque, had risen to 33. Another 66 were wounded. (AFP)